Means for controlling automobiles.



' H. E..`c'oPP1N. y MEANS YEUR GONTROLLING AUTOMOBILES.

' APPLIUATIUN FILED AUGA, 190s.

Patented Mam, 1910."

'UNITED sTATEs PATENT normen.

HOWARD E. oorrIN, or DETROIT, MIGIII'GAN, AssIGNoR To 'n R. THOMASDETROIT oo., or DETROIT, MICHIGAN, A CORPORATION or MICHIGAN.

. MEANS FOR CONTROLLING AUTOMOBILES.

Patented Mar. 15, 1910.

Original application led August 4, 1906, Serial No. 329,139. Divided'and this application filed August 4, 1906. Serial No. 329,140. A

To'all whom it may concern: Be it known that I, HOWARD E. COFFIN, a

. citizen of the United States, residing at Detroit, county of Wayne,State of Michigan, have-invented aV certain new and useful Improvementin Means for Controlling Automobiles, of which the following isaspecification, reference being had to the accompanyag drawings, whichform a part of this specification.

My present invention is designed'to provide certain novel improvementsin controlling mechanism for automobiles, and it consists of thestructure hereinafter described and claimed and illustrated in theaccompanying drawings, in which,

Figure 1 is a view in plan illustrating features of my invention. Fig. 2is a view in vertical section.

The features of construction embodied herein are generically embraced inan application for controlling mechanism for automobiles prepared andexecuted by me of even date herewith, Serial No. 329,139, Vtiled the 4thday of August, 1906. y

My invention embodies mechanism for the purpose described arranged sothat there may be simultaneous movements of the dcvices controlling theSpark and the throttle, the invention, however, permitting the sparkingdevice to be controlled independently of the control ofthe throttlecontrolling mechanism and vice versa.

I carry out my presentinvention as follows:

In the drawings a represents an ordinary steering rim engaged upon anysuitable steering post b to actuate the post, and c represents thespider vcarrying the rim, which may be of any desired construction,

. the same being shown herewith sleeved about the steering post.

A tubular shaft is indicatedat f, the same being designed to beconnected by suitable mechanism (not shown) at the lower extremitythereof to the throttle valve ofthe carbureter. An inner rod or stattlis also shown at g designed to be connected at its lower extremity byany suitable lmechanism (not shown) with the ordinary commutator ,orspark controlling device. A lever arm is indicated at d mounted upon theshaft f to attuate the same, said arm being so mounted upon the axialcenter' of the steering wheel or rim as to be rotatable about saidcenter, its various positions-being maintained by means of a segment eand a pawl fr.

Upon the outer end of the lever arm d I provide a knob serving as a handgrip indicated at L rotatable upon its axis, this hand grip beingconnectedbyvany suitable rotation to said stati', and a verticalmovement thereof, and in addition to the generic features common to bothmodications, I have laid claim specifically to mechanism for rotatingsaid statt'. My present invention aims to cover in addition, mechanismsfor securlng a vertlcal movement o said stati to actuate the commutatoror spar conC trolling device. The segment e may be supported in anydesired manner, as upon arms l. The hand grip is rigidly mounted. upon apartially rotatable postm, the statt' g being engaged by a leverindicated by the numeral 1 fulcrumed as at 2 to the lever arm d, theinner end of the lever having a movable engagement as shown with the rodg, as by means of an elongated slot 3 engaging a pin 4 upon the rod g.As stated in the application referred to, the opposite end of the leverl may be actuated in various ways within the scope of my invention tovertically move the rod or shaft g. 'l

In Fig. 2 the post m is shown provided with a cam indicated at 5, with`which the adjacent end of the lever 1 is in engagement. By thisconstruction it will be evident that when the shaft m ispartiallyrotated the lever l will be actuated. The hand grip is shown held innormal positionby the tension of a spring G bearing upon a frictiontoothed collar 7 contacting with an adjacent friction or toothed portionof the lever larm di It will be observed that the swinging of :theentire lever arm (l .about its mounting upon the center of the steeringwheel will clearly impart to the tubular casing or sha ft a correspondinmovement. It will also be evident that-w ien the hand grip y71, ispartially rotated upon its axis, the rod g will los ator seizing thehand grip may simply throw,

the lever arm over the desired are Without rotating the handgrip, or'the two actions may take place simultaneously, as above described withone hand of the operator, while of course the hand grip may be rotatedupon its axis Without actuating the lever arm.

The arm d is provided With a pawl indi- .cated at 7' to engage thetoothed segment e to hold the arm in any given location.

It will be evident that in applicants device by grasping the hand gripit and moving it forward, or in other Words carrying the hand grip alongWithout rotating it upon its axis, the lever l is not actuated to causea vertical movement of the stati'. The lever arm d with the hand gripl1, may thus be moved forward or along the segment in veither directionsimultaneously Without operating the stati' g or the spark controllingdevice.

It is evident also that the hand grip may be rotated upon its axisindependently of the movement of the lever arm. Obviously, also, thehand gri J can be rotated upon its axis simultaneous y with theImovement of the lever arm d by a single hand of the operator.

It will be noted that with the construction described, either, or both,of the separate controlling devices can be actuated by a movement in asingle plane; that is, the operator, by grasping the rotatable handle,can swing the arm simultaneously, rotating the handle upon its axis,both movements being in the same plane. This greatly facilitates thecontrol, as the relative proper adjustinent of the two separatecontrolling dcvices are actuated by separate members, or by the samemember Where the respective movements are in different planes.

What I claim as my invention is:

1. In a-controlling mechanism for automobiles the combination of asteering post, a steering rim to actuate said post, a rotatable shaft tocontrol the throttle valve of the carbureter, a vertically reciprocatorystali1 to actuate the spark controlling device, means to actuate saidshaft, and a hand grip rotatable upon an upwardly extended axis tovertically reciprocate said stati", the staff and the shaft beingmovable simultaneously by one hand of the operator or each independentlythe one of the other at the will of the operator.

2. In a controlling mechanism for automobiles the combination of asteering post, a rotatable shaft to control the throttle valve of thecarbureter, a vertically movable staff to actuate the spark controllingdevice, an oscillatory lever arm to rotate said shaft, and a hand griprotatable upon an upwardly extended axis carried upon said lever toreciprocate said statt, said hand grip--rotatable upon its axisindependently of the movement of the lever arm.

3. In a controllingmechanism for automobiles tlie combination of asteering post, i

axis carried upon said leverrm to actuate said lever.

Il. In a controlling mechanism for automobiles the combination of asteering post, a shaft to control the throttle valve of the vcarbureter,a vertically reciprocatory staff to actuate the spark controllingdevice, a horizontally oscillatory lever arm to rotate saidshaft, alever to vertically reciprocate said staif engaged at one extremity withthe staff, and a hand grip rotatable upon its axis engaged with theopposite end of said lever to actuate said lever.

5. In a controlling mechanism for automobiles the combination of asteering post, a rotatable shaft to' control the throttle valve of thecarbureter, a vertically movable stad to actuate the spark controllingdevice, an oscillatory lever arm to rotate said shaft, a hand griprotatable upon an upwardly extended axis to vertically reciprocate saidstaff, said hand rip movable simultaneously with the osci latory leverin the direction of the movement of the lever Without reciprocating saidsta, and rotatable upon its axis independently of thel movement, of thelever arm to reciprocate said staif.

6. The combination with a steering stem, of two members passing throughsaid stem respectively rotatable and longitudinally movable, a commonactuating member rotatable in the same plane about the axis of the stemand its own axis, and means for translating said rotations into therespective movements of the members passing through the stem.

7. The combination with .a steering stem, of two members passing throughsaid stem and respectively rotatable and longitudinally movable, anactuating member for said rotatable member, a member mounted on saidactuating member for operating the saine and rotatablein the saine planeabout an eccentric axis, and means for translating said rotations aboutthe eccentric axis into movement of the, longitudinally movable memberin said stem.

S. In a control mechanism for automobiles, the combination of a steeringpost, of

a. Shaft` and a sitaff` associated therewith,l a specifcaton inthe'pi'esence f two. Subscribhorlzontally osclllatory lever arm 'foractulng Wltnesses.

atmg said shaftfa lever for operatlng Sad' stff, a hand grip foractuating said lever n *HOWARD COFFIN 5 rotatable in the Same plane as sad lever i VVivtnesses:

arm and journnled thereon. .N. S. WRIGHTVy In testimony whereof, I hz'wesignedthis l 'Y CHARLES F.v HEYERMAN. A

